Hi!
I've spent the past few days reading every single ancient thread on sharpening and sharpeners.

I've decided that I need one.

does anyone have a Skatemate? there's are a lot of discussion of Pro-Filers and I know most people prefer the Pro-Filer because of the hard construction. But I haven't found too much info on the skatemate. I know it's flexible and adjustable to any ROH, does this cause more problem than it proposes to solve?

who owns both sharpeners? can you compare the usage of the 2?

thanks!

Cherry

The skating director at my rink uses one-she likes it for in between but she still prefers a machined sharpening about every 10-20 times. By a reputable sharpener.

I have the pro-filer and could not be happier!!!!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

We have both, and prefer the pro-filer because the skate mate requires more effort and time and we feel it may possibly enlarge the hollow.

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I have been using a SkateMate for about five months and I find that it maintains good edges on my blades which have a 3/8 ROH, and it does not seem to alter the ROH.

The only hand-held skate sharpener that maintains your Radius of Hollow is the ProFiler - I would buy one but they aren't available in the RoH that I use. NOTHING ELSE WILL EVER TOUCH MY BLADES!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

I've checked out a skatemate before from somebody at the skating rink, and I was skeptical about its deformable grinding cylinder. I could be wrong, but I think that having a deformable grinding cylinder is a bit sloppy in the design. I trust the profiler with its solid grinding cylinder. Having a solid cylinder is at least a step toward keeping a constant ROH.

From an engineering prospective, I wouldn't call it "sloppy" but it is far from ideal. The advantage of a soft backing behind an abrasive sheet is that it is "one size fits all" but that is also it's disadvantage. One would be better off finding a marking pen or anything the right diameter (twice your RoH) and wrap a piece of fine emery paper around it.

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Very true indeed. I only thought that it was sloppy because if you want constant ROH, then you really don't want a deformable cylinder at all. From an engineering perspective, you strictly want a non-deformable abrasive cylinder.

Correct. However if you want to MAINTAIN a constant RoH, the stone would have to be replaced OFTEN.

Here was a hand-held sharpener on the market back in the 1960's that used a cylindrical stone in a plastic holder. One simply rotated the stone a little after each use and replaced it when it got worn down. It was much like the ProFiler but a LOT less expensive.

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

I see. I just thought that if you want to maintain 'sharp edges', then the cylinder must simply have the abrasive material on it. If the abrasive material gets worn away, you'll still maintain constant ROH.....it's just that you won't be able to whittle away at the blade anymore, unless you rotate the cylinder a bit to get to a less-worn region of the cylinder.

But with the skatemate, if the cylinder is allowed to deform all over the place, then I don't think that the ROH is doing to stay the same. Or, actually, the skatemate cylinder could probably make the profile turn into some other shape, instead of a circular-arc shape.....and if this happens, then probably can no longer define the deformed hollow to have an ROH anymore.

Again, perfectly correct! Actually any kind of deformable material will apply more pressure to the higher areas which will eventually turn your "radius of hollow" into a "flat of used-to-be hollow" LOL!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

thanks for all the responses! I'm going ahead with the pro-filer then!

I had a nightmare just before waking up this morning about getting my blades sharpened by the annoying hockey player who purposely blocks my path!!

I hope they ship to france! otherwise I'll have to have them ship it home to cali and have my family send it to me...a longer wait, more nightmares...

I have a skatemate and love it for touching up between "real" sharpenings.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

This is my concern, too.

I have both, but I've never used the Skatemate, mostly because I still haven't been back skating since I got it. But I'm also nervous to use it on my blades, which have never seen a sharpening other than my Pro-Filer.

I was planning to take my kids skating, and use the Skatemate on the rental blades and see if I liked how it works or not, but I haven't yet had the chance.

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Right on Dianne! Yeah....that's it. That's why I'm a bit skeptical about the skatemate, with its deformable hollow tube.

If you wish to prevent the SkateMate abrasive cylinder from deforming simply place a suitable wooden dowel inside the cylinder.

Could try that. But the diameter of the dowel would need to be a tad smaller than the diameter of the abrasive cylinder, in order to be able to fit it into there and then also to glue it in there. And then hopefully they have a abrasive cylinder that matches the ROH for the blade, since don't they say that the skatemate cylinder is claimed to fit any ROH? I don't actually believe that it fits any ROH though. I will need to check up more about the skatemate cylinder, and what sizes they come in.

Then save yourself some money! Buy the dowel and some fine emery paper at the hardware store - should cost you about $3 and last for years. Dowel is available in 1/4" steps from 1/4" to 1-1/2" (corresponding to RoH from 1/8" to 3/4"

Actually, if you practice, you can fold a piece of abrasive paper around a dowel and hold it by the ends, close to the dowel, and make a perfect radius - I do it all the time in woodworking.

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )